In a Feb. 8 interview with the Gospel Post, Reverend Mou-sing Yun talked about the current struggles Chinese pro-family groups face.
Reverend Yun is the President of the Support Traditional Marriage of 1 Man & 1 Woman Association. He is currently one of the leading voices on pro-family activities in the Chinese American Christian community.
"We have been focusing on uniting the Chinese Americans to push forward the pro-family campaign," he said in the interview.
As the homosexual issue is reaching the attention of the Chinese-American Christian community, several Christian leaders have not only organized a nationwide pro-family rally last Oct, but also established a foundation called the "Christian Social Endeavor Foundation."(related reports).
It would not take long for the organization to become active, however. On Feb 4, New York Supreme Court Justice Doris Ling-Cohan declared that a law prohibiting gay "marriages" violates the state's constitution. She declared the same laws were unconstitutional and said that the New York City clerk could not deny marriage licenses to any couple solely on the grounds that they are of the same gender. This, she said, was contrary to rulings in which three New York courts defined the state's marriage laws.
Currently, many pro-family groups view the ruling as a chief factor that opened the floodgates to "legalized" same-sex "marriages" in New York City. The controversy that followed has since then caught the attention nost just from the states, but all over world.
According to New York State law, a ruling such as the one delivered by Justice Ling-Cohan is open for appeal in the next 30 days after its issuance. Many pro-family groups have now voiced concern that if there is no response from the Christian community, then the ruling will be firmly grounded into New York Law.
Addressing this recent event, Rev. Yun mentioned that there are now two steps to protect one-man, one-woman marriage. First, he said, the ruling must be stopped by passing the Federal Marriage Amendment. The second one is to promote the pro-family traditional values amongst the youth through education and awareness-programs.
Rev.Yun urged believers to pray for the first issue. He gave example of the latest presidential election to show that God always protected His people.
"And we should teach the youth that homosexuality is abnormal." He continued. "Our generation is now fighting to protect the traditional values, but it is the youth who will have to protect it in the future."
"Nowadays there are many young people [who] think that homosexuality comes from being 'born' with it and being a 'personal' matter, so they don't want to intervene. However, scientific research shows that the postnatal environment has an important impact on one's sexual orientation....What's more, it is very much made by someone's choice. But if they want to protect it legislatively, it will never be [considered] an issue of choice anymore. The whole society will fall under this lie."
Addressing the recent judgement in New York City, Rev.Yun said, "The United States is very important. If it is protected, then the whole world can be protected. But if it breaks down, the whole world will break down as well."
"For example," he continued, "Taiwan and Hong Kong are influenced a lot by the United States."
"[But] when the High Court of Massachusetts decided homosexual marriage was made legal last February, pro-gay groups in Taiwan and Hong Kong became very much more active."
"In May, the first homosexual pastor was ordained in Taiwan. And [following] in October, an openly pro-gay missionary was ordained in Hong Kong to shepherd a pro-gay church. It was the first time in Hong Kong a church would ordain an openly pro-gay activist to be a pastor."
So far, the 1 Man & 1 Woman Association has had some setbacks in the following months.
"The Chinese Churches are not yet aware of the seriousness of this problem. Chinese Christians are not paying enough attention to this," Rev. Yun explained. "There are only a few of us underdoing this endeavor to tell Christians how serious the situation is."
From one church to another, Rev.Yun is now speaking about homosexual issues and the chaos it brings to the moral fabric of society.
The reverend said, "there are many Chinese Christians [who] simply don't want to be involved in any form with this 'social issue'....but Jesus [clearly] told us to be the salt and the light of the world."
Now, the Support Traditional Marriage of 1 Man & 1 Woman Association is planning to make teaching materials available to offer proper education on faith-based family value.
They expressed hopes to arrouse public awareness of the seriousness of this issue. They are also seeking for further cooperation with the newly established "Christian Social Endeavor Foundation", as well as with Christian communities of other cultural and ethnic descent in the United States.
"I believe that we should hold [a] rally every year, like the one in the last October, to further Christian value in our society," he said at the end of the interview. "Homosexuals are marching every year, everywhere, exerting a subtle influence on the public."
"Chinese Christians are sleeping in front of these sweeping homosexual campaigns. When you call aloud, they [Chinese Christians] will open their eyes for a while, and then close them again. However, we cannot stay silent and indifferent anymore."
He openly encouraged Christians to gather signatures or write letters to President W. Bush to continually remind the president why conservative Christians had voted for him in the first place.
"In these four years of his term," Rev. Yun said, "we really hope [he'd] do something effective to protect traditional marriage."
